Uncharted: Drake's Fortune sees Drake travel to the Amazon and an uncharted island off the coast of South America. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves explores the snow-capped mountain landscapes of Tibet, a museum in Istanbul, the jungles of Borneo and the urban landscapes of Nepal. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception sees Drake through a number of locations, including the streets of London and Colombia, a château in France, a castle in Syria, a city in Yemen and the sprawling deserts of the Rub' al Khali.

During combat, the player as Nate (left) can use corners and walls as cover, and then use blind or aimed fire from cover against his opponents.

Gameplay in the Uncharted series is a combination of action-adventure elements and 3D platforming with a third-person perspective. Platforming elements allow Nate to jump, swim, grab and move along ledges, climb and swing from ropes, and perform other acrobatic actions that allow players to make their way through the many challenges that Nate will have to face.[3] Although a wide variety of weapons are present in the game, the player can only carry a sidearm (pistols and the like), a primary weapon such as a rifle or shotgun, and a handful of grenades. These weapons are obtained by picking up weapons dropped by a downed foe or from those scattered around the various maps.

Multiplayer gameplay, both competitive and co-operative, was introduced in the sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The co-op multiplayer allows up to three players to take the roles of Drake and two other "hero" companions and features missions involving gunfights, platforming, and teamwork-based objectives.[4] Players can also assist their comrades if they become critically injured or if they are grabbed by an enemy.[4] The competitive multiplayer allows a maximum of ten players to play against each other in two teams of five. Six competitive modes are featured: Deathmatch, Plunder, Team Objective, Three Team Deathmatch, Hardcore and Free For All.[5] Deathmatch features two teams of five, with one team acting as heroes and the other as villains. Players can choose their own appropriate character models (such as Drake, Elena, Sully and new characters Tenzin and Chloe for the heroes team). As players accrue points and rank up, they can purchase more skins for both heroes and villains.[5]

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, the first in the series, combines action-adventure and platform elements with a third-person perspective to chart the journey of protagonist Nathan Drake, supposed descendant of the explorer Sir Francis Drake, as he seeks the lost treasure of El Dorado in South America with the help of journalist Elena Fisher and mentor Victor "Sully" Sullivan, though they are pursued relentlessly by both pirates led by Eddy Raja and later on by a group of mercenaries led by Gabriel Roman and Atoq Navarro, the former whom Sully is indebted to.[6]

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves takes Drake on a journey across Nepal and the Himalayas in a search for the lost city of Shambhala. It reunites most of the cast from the first game, such as Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan, and introduces the stealth mechanic and new characters Chloe Frazer (a new love interest who has history with Drake), Harry Flynn (a shifty former partner of Drake's), and Zoran Lazarević, a Serbianwar criminal and the game's primary antagonist. The second game also introduces a multiplayer mode to the series.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is the third game in the series, and, like its previous installments, is a PlayStation 3 exclusive action-adventureplatformvideo game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released in November 2011. The story focuses on Nate's relationship with his mentor and father figure, Victor "Sully" Sullivan, and has him searching for a legendary lost city that will ultimately take him to the Arabian Peninsula and the vast wasteland of the Rub' al Khali Desert, in search of “Iram of the Pillars” (also known as the “Atlantis of the Sands”). Elena Fisher and Chloe Frazer feature again but with smaller roles, and the game introduces new characters such as Charlie Cutter and Salim, Nate's newest allies, and Katherine Marlowe, Talbot and Ramesses who serve as the game's main antagonists.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is the fourth game in the series and is a PlayStation 4 exclusive action-adventureplatformvideo game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It will be released in 2016. It will focus on Nate, now a retired fortune hunter, getting forced back in the world of thieves. He will embark on a globe-trotting journey in pursuit of a historical conspiracy behind a fabled pirate treasure. It’s his greatest adventure yet and will test his physical limits, his resolve, and ultimately what he’s willing to sacrifice to save the ones he loves.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss is a title for Sony's PS Vita. It was developed by SCE Bend Studio, with development being overseen by Naughty Dog. It was released first in Japan on December 17, 2011. The release date in North America and Europe was February 23, 2012. The game's events take place sometime before those of Drake's Fortune, though developers have stated that it is not a prequel to Drake's Fortune, but rather a separate original story.[7]

In November 2012, the Australian Classification Board database showed the rating for a game titled Uncharted: Fight for Fortune, seemingly developed by the virtually unknown One Loop Games.[8][9] Later that month, it was confirmed that Sony Bend was developing the game and that it would be an "action-adventure turn-based card game". It was released on December 4, 2012 through PlayStation Network exclusively for the Vita.[10]

On October 23, 2009 Sony Computer Entertainment America released the first of a four-part series adventure called Uncharted: Eye of Indra.[12] It is a prequel to Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. The second part was released on November 25, 2009, while the third and fourth parts released simultaneously on December 7, 2009.[13]

A motion comic adaptation of the prologue of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, starting with the discovery of Francis Drake's coffin and up to the first encounter with Gabriel Roman. Uses the same voice clips from the video game.[citation needed]

On July 19, 2011, Sony announced that an Uncharted comic book would be released by DC Comics around the time Uncharted 3 came out. It is written by Joshua Williamson, with art by Sergio Sandoval and covers by Adam Hughes[15] It was released on November 30, 2011,[dated info][16] as part of a 6 issue mini series. "A quest for the legendary "Amber Room" launches Nathan Drake on a journey to the center of the earth." [17]

Film producer Avi Arad has stated that he is working with a division of Sony to develop the film adaptation of Uncharted.[18] In response to a question posed to Richard Lemarchand, lead game designer of Naughty Dog, on whether he would like to see a film adaptation of Uncharted, he replied "no comment".[19] Since then, Columbia Pictures has confirmed that an Uncharted film is being developed. It is to be written by Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly and produced by Avi Arad, Charles Roven, and Alex Gartner.[20][21] As of June 30, 2009 it was confirmed that the Uncharted film has been in development for the last year-and-a-half.[22]Nathan Fillion has expressed interest in playing Nathan Drake, and started a campaign on Twitter to encourage fans to support him in this endeavour.[23] In a recent interview, Naughty Dog told PlayStation University how close they really are with the development of the movie and that they have trust with all who are working on it.[24]

On November 24, 2010, an interview with Mark Wahlberg was published by MTV with the actor discussing his involvement in the film adaptation of the popular franchise. He states that David O. Russell is currently writing the script and is excited for what he has in store, hoping to shoot in the middle of 2011: "I'm obviously in whatever David wants to do but the idea of it is so off the charts: De Niro being my father, Pesci being my uncle. It's not going to be the watered-down version, that's for sure." [27]

On May 26, 2011, it was reported that David O. Russell had dropped out from directing the video game film, with a new screenwriter being sought by Columbia Pictures.[28] On July 6, Variety reported that Neil Burger (Limitless, The Illusionist) was stepping in for David O. Russell.

Burger landed the offer after the studio and producers Avi Arad, Charles Roven and Alex Gartner sparked to his new take on the pic. Burger spoke out about the film in July, saying the following:[29]

We're re-writing the script from scratch, and I'm just jumping into that literally right now, about to close the deal and leap off. Until the screenplay is written you never know who's going to be acting in it or not. But there are a lot of good actors out there who even look like Nathan Drake and who could do it. I love the project, I think it's a great adventure and it's a wild insane ride ... the game is and the movie will be. I mean it has pretty great character at its core, Nathan is a bit of a con man, a hustler ... knows his stuff, ballsy..it's great. Absolutely. And then you know you have to do what a movie does best, as well ... build on what's cool about the game and then make it into a movie. Yeah there will be (balance) in this one, this one is a very great adventure, and it's just a matter of pulling out the the [sic] very cool intense stuff that works for the film story, and making sure the story supports those elements and also makes us really connected to the character.

In an interview with IGN, Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg were asked to write the film multiple times, but have declined all of them.[31] On February 4, 2014 Deadline report that Seth Gordon will direct the film.[32] Production is set to begin in early 2015,[33] and the film is scheduled for release on June 10, 2016.[34] On November 12, 2014, the studio has hired Mark Boal to write the film.[35]

Other media, including a comic, have contributed to the Uncharted series. A handheld game and a film adaptation is also in production, the cast of which is not yet known though three actors are in talks to playing certain characters.[27]

The Uncharted series, particularly the second game, has received worldwide critical acclaim from reviewers and gamers. The first game in the series, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune received numerous positive reviews from critics with a total of 89.67% on GameRankings and 88/100 on Metacritic. The second title in the series, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has been met with much higher acclaim, garnering a total score of 96.43% on GameRankings and 96/100 on Metacritic. It received numerous Game of the Year awards from publications such as IGN[42] and Spike,[43] and is widely considered one of the greatest video games of all time.

Uncharted 2 was the top selling game in the month of its release,[44] and as of December 2011, has sold over 5 million copies.[45] Naughty Dog's product marketing manager Asad Quizilbash stated that Uncharted 3′s week one sales were double that of Uncharted 2, which was "far exceeding" their expectations.[46] As a whole, the Uncharted series has sold over 17 million copies worldwide.[2]

^Hennig, Amy (30 June 2009). "Uncharted 2 Live Chat with Naughty Dog". The PlayStation Blog. Sony Computer Entertainment America. Retrieved 30 July 2009. We're really excited about the development of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune as a movie – we've been working with Arad Productions for the last year-and-a-half or so